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Home , Histories (Tacitus), Nicolaus of Damascus

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History & Historiography under/of

1. Nicolaus of : preface Men gave him this name in view of his claim to honour; and, scattered over islands and continents, through city and tribe, they revere him by building temples and by sacrificing to him, thus requiting him for his great virtue and acts of kindness toward themselves. For this man, having attained preeminent power and discretion, ruled over the greatest number of people within the memory of man, established the farthest boundaries for the … (FGrH F125)

2. Nicolaus of Damascus To set forth the full power of this man's intelligence and virtue, both in the administration which he exercised at Rome and in the conduct of great wars both domestic and foreign, is a subject for competition in speech and essay, that men may win renown by treating it well. (FGrH F126)

3. Nicolaus of Damascus: re-writing history (28) After the great 's death and burial, his friends counselled Octavian to cultivate Antonius' friendship, and put him in charge of his interests . . . . He again approached Antonius with a number of his friends, requesting that permission be given for the throne and wreath to be set up in his father's honor. Antonius made the same threat as before, if he did not drop that proposal and keep quiet. Octavian withdrew and made no opposition to the veto of the consul. When he entered the theater, however, the people applauded him loudly… From that day Antonius was manifestly still more ill disposed toward Octavian, who stood in the way of the people's zeal for him. … So Octavian was the only one left to avenge his father, for Antonius let the whole matter pass, and was even in favor of an amnesty for the assassins. … But for the present fearing for his life, knowing Antonius' attitude toward him and yet quite unable to change it, Octavian remained at home and awaited his opportunity. (30) When Octavian went home after his reconciliation with Antonius, the latter, left to himself, became provoked again at seeing the good will of all the soldiers inclining very much toward Octavian. … Octavian, however, actually believing that the reconciliation between them was in good faith, went every day to Antonius' house, as was quite proper, since Antonius was consul and an older man and a friend of his father's; and he paid him every other respect according to his promise until Antonius did him a second wrong in the following manner

4. Diodorus’ universal history I shall undertake to give a full account of all the events which have been handed down to memory and took place in the known regions of the inhabited world. (Diod. Sic. 1.9.1)

5. Moral history In general, then, it is because of that commemoration of goodly deeds which history accords men that some of them have been induced to become the founders of cities, that others have been led to introduce laws which encompass man's social life with security, and that many have aspired to discover new sciences and arts in order to benefit the race of men. And since complete happiness can be attained only through the combination of all these activities, the foremost praise must be awarded to that which more than any other thing is the cause of them, that is, to history. For we must look upon it as constituting the guardian of the high achievements of illustrious men, the witness which testifies to the evil deeds of the wicked, and the benefactor of the entire human race. (Diod. Sic. 2.1)

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6. Universal history as product of empire As for the resources which have availed us in this undertaking, they have been, first and foremost, that enthusiasm for the work which enables every man to bring to completion the task which seems impossible, and, in the second place, the abundant supply which Rome affords of the materials pertaining to the proposed study. 3 For the supremacy of this city, a supremacy so powerful that it extends to the bounds of the inhabited world, has provided us in the course of our long residence there with copious resources in the most accessible form. (Diod. Sic. 1.4.2-3)

7. Pompeius Trogus AFTER many Romans, men even of consular dignity, had committed the acts of their countrymen to writing in Greek, a foreign language, Trogus Pompeius, a man of eloquence equal to that of the ancients, whether prompted by a desire to emulate their glory, or charmed by the variety and novelty of the undertaking, composed the history of Greece, and of the whole world, in the tongue, in order that, as our actions might he read in Greek, so those of the Greeks might be read in our language; attempting a work that demanded extraordinary resolution and labour. For when, to most authors who write the history only of particular princes or nations, their task appears an affair of arduous effort, must not Trogus Pompeius, in attempting the whole world, seem to have acted with a boldness like that of Hercules, since in his books are contained the actions of all ages, monarchs, nations, and people? (Pompeius Trogus, Preface)

8. Dionysius’ goal By this means I engage to prove that they [the Romans] were Greeks and came together from nations not the smallest nor least considerable. (Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities I.5.1)

9. History according to Dionysius That I have indeed made choice of a subject noble, lofty and useful to many will not, I think, require any lengthy argument, at least for those who are not utterly unacquainted with universal history. For if anyone turns his attention to the successive supremacies both of cities and of nations, as accounts of them have been handed down from times past, and then, surveying them severally and comparing them together, wishes to determine which of them obtained the widest dominion and both in peace and war performed the most brilliant achievements, he will find that the supremacy of the Romans has far surpassed all those that are recorded from earlier times, not only in the extent of its dominion and in the splendor of its achievements — which no account has as yet worthily celebrated — but also in the length of time during which it has endured down to our day. (Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities I.2.1)

10. Reasons for Rome’s greatness For to this day almost all the Greeks are ignorant of the early and the great majority of them have been imposed upon by sundry false opinions grounded upon stories which chance has brought to their ears and led to believe that, having come upon various vagabonds without house or home and barbarians, and even those not free men, as her founders, she in the course of time arrived at world domination, and this not through reverence for the gods and justice and every other virtue, but through some chance and the injustice of Fortune, which inconsiderately showers her greatest favours upon the most undeserving. And indeed the more malicious are wont to rail openly at Fortune for freely bestowing on the basest of barbarians the blessings of the Greeks. (Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities I.4.2)

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11. Cremutius Cordus on I am said to have praised Brutus and Cassius, whose careers many have described and no one mentioned without eulogy. Livius, pre-eminently famous for eloquence and truthfulness, extolled Cneius Pompeius in such a panegyric that Augustus called him Pompeianus, and yet this was no obstacle to their friendship. (Tac, Ann, 4.3.4)

12. Seneca on Livy As it is, the remark may be applied to the winds which was commonly made regarding , as recorded by Titus Livius (Livy): it was doubtful whether his birth was a blessing or a curse to the state. (Seneca, QN 5.18.4)

13. Livy: opening I, on the other hand, shall look for a further reward of my labours in being able to close my eyes to the evils which our generation has witnessed for so many years; so long, at least, as I am devoting all my thoughts to retracing those pristine records, free from all the anxiety which can disturb the historian of his own times even if it cannot warp him from the truth...

Now, if any nation ought to be allowed to claim a sacred origin and point back to a divine paternity that nation is Rome. For such is her renown in war that when she chooses to represent Mars as her own and her founder's father, the nations of the world accept the statement with the same equanimity with which they accept her dominion...

The subjects to which I would ask each of my readers to devote his earnest attention are these-the life and morals of the community; the men and the qualities by which through domestic policy and foreign war dominion was won and extended. Then as the standard of morality gradually lowers, let him follow the decay of the national character, observing how at first it slowly sinks, then slips downward more and more rapidly, and finally begins to plunge into headlong ruin, until he reaches these days, in which we can bear neither our diseases nor their remedies...

We should much prefer to start with favourable omens, and if we could have adopted the poets' custom, it would have been much pleasanter to commence with prayers and supplications to gods and goddesses that they would grant a favourable and successful issue to the great task before us.... (Livy, preface)

14. Camillus speech ―Our envoys violated the law of nations and we, who should have punished that crime, were again so careless of our duty to the gods as to let it pass. That is why we suffered defeat; that is why Rome was captured, and offered us again for gold; that is why we have been so punished by gods and men as to be an example to the world‖ (Livy 5.51)

15. Lucretia ... but Lucretia, though it was late at night, was busily engaged upon her wool, while her maidens toiled about her in the lamplight as she sat in the hall of our house. The prize of this context in womanly virtues fell to Lucretia…

―Though I acquit myself of the sin, I do not absolve myself from punishment; not in time to come shall an unchaste woman live through the example of Lucretia!‖ (Livy 1.57-8)

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16. Camillus and the Gauls Camillus returned in triumph to Rome, his victorious troops roaring out their bawdy songs and saluting their commander by the well-merited titles of another , father of his country and second founder of Rome.

―Why did we save Rome from the hands of our enemies if we are to desert her now? … Evil times came – and then we remembered our religion… Therefore it is that heaven has given us back our city and restored to us victory… We have a city founded with all due rites of auspice and augury; not a stone of its streets but is permeated by our sense of the divine; for our annual sacrifices not the days only are fixed, but the places too, where they may be performed… Can you wish to abandon in time of peace our national ceremonies and our country‘s gods…?… It may be said perhaps that we shall perform these duties in Veii – or send our priests to perform them here. But in neither case could the proper sanctities be preserved. I cannot now make mention of all our gods, or of all our rites – but think, for instance, of Jupiter‘s feast: how could his couch be decked anywhere but on the Capitol? What of Vesta‘s eternal fires, or of the image preserved in her shrine as a pledge of Rome‘s dominion?‖ (Livy 5.49-51)

17. Summi viri and Augustus Next to the immortal gods he honoured the memory of those leaders who had raised the Roman empire from small beginnings to greatness. Accordingly,… when setting up statues of men in triumphal dress in the 2 porticoes of his , he declared in an edict that he had done so in order that the citizens might measure both himself and succeeding leaders by the standard set by those men in their lives. (Suet, Aug 31.5)

18. Velleius and C. Sentius Saturninus The remarkable conduct of an excellent man, Gaius Sentius Saturninus, who was consul about this time, must not be cheated of its due record. Caesar was absent from the city engaged in regulating the affairs of Asia and of the orient, and in bringing to the countries of the world by his personal presence the blessings of Augustan peace. On this occasion Sentius, chancing thus to be sole consul with Caesar absent, adopting the rigorous regime of the older consuls, pursued a general policy of old- fashioned severity and great firmness, bringing to light the fraudulent tricks of the tax-collectors, punishing their avarice, and getting the public moneys into the treasury.... This conduct I consider as comparable with any of the celebrated acts of the consuls of the olden days. But we are naturally more inclined to praise what we have heard than what has occurred before our eyes; we regard the present with envy, the past with veneration, and believe that we are eclipsed by the former, but derive instruction from the latter. (Velleius 2.92)

19. Pliny on My friend Suetonius Tranquillus wishes to buy a small property which I hear a friend of yours is trying to sell. Please see that he has it at a fair price, so that he will be pleased with his purchase. … There is indeed much about this property to whet Tranquillus‘ appetite…: easy access to Rome, good communications, a modest house, and sufficient land for him to enjoy without taking up too much of his time. Scholars turned landowners, like himself, need no more land than will suffice to clear their heads and refresh their eyes, as they stroll around their grounds and tread their single path, getting to know each one of their precious vines and counting every fruit tree. (Pliny, Ep. 1.24)

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20. Hippo Regius inscription To Gaius Suetoni[us…] Tran[quillus…] priest, […. enrolled] among [those chosen for the jury panels by] the deified Tr[ajan], priest of Volca[n ….] in charge of studies, libraries [….] and correspondence of the [emperor] Hadrian…[The people of Hippo] Regius (set this up). By decree of the town council, with public money. (AE 1953, 73)

21. Suetonius’ sources & their use a. This information is given by others; it is not derived from Augustus' own memoirs, which merely record that he came of a rich old equestrian family, and that his father had been the first Octavius to enter the Senate. wrote scornfully that Augustus' great-grandfather had been only a freedman, a rope-maker from the neighbourhood of Thurii; and his grandfather a money-changer. (Suet, Aug 2) b. There was also the case of Quintus Gallius the who, while paying Augustus his respects, clutched a set of writing-tablets underneath his robe. Augustus suspected that he had a sword, but dared not have him searched on the spot, for fear of being mistaken; so presently ordered an officer's party to drag him away from the tribunal. Gallius was tortured as if he were a slave; and though he confessed to nothing, Augustus himself tore out his eyes and sentenced him to death. In his own account of the incident, however, Augustus records that Gallius asked for an audience, attacked him unexpectedly, and was removed to prison; that, being then banished from , he disappeared on the way to his place of exile… (Suet, Aug 27) c. Augustus‘ everyday language must have contained many whimsical expressions of his own coinage, to judge from letters in his own handwriting. Thus, he often wrote ‗they will pay on the Greek Kalends‘; which meant ‗never‘ – because the reckoning by Kalends is a purely Roman convention...He also had a favourite metaphor for swift and sudden actions: ‗Quicker than boiled asparagus‘. … I have noticed one particular habit of his: rather than break a long word at the end of a line and carry forward to the next whatever letters were left over, he would write these underneath the first part of the word and draw a loop to connect them with it…

22. Augustus’ divinity: portents At about the same time the first letter of his name was melted from the inscription on one of his statues by a flash of lightning; this was interpreted to mean that he would live only a hundred days from that time, the number indicated by the letter C, and that he would be numbered with the gods, since aesar (that is, the part of the name Caesar which was left) is the word for god in the Etruscan tongue. (Suet, Aug 97)

23. Pro-? He twice thought about restoring the republic …On reconsideration, however, he decided that to divide the responsibilities of government among several hands would be to jeopardize not only his own life, but national security; so he did not do so. The results were almost as good as his intentions, which he expressed from time to time and even published in an edict: 'May I be privileged to build firm and lasting foundations for the government of the state. May I also achieve the reward to which I aspire: that of being known as the author (auctor) of the best possible constitution… (Suet, Aug 28.1)

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24. History under the principate I BEGIN my work with the time when Servius was consul for the second time with Titus Vinius for his colleague (AD 69). Of the former period, the 820 years dating from the founding of the city, many authors have treated; and while they had to record the transactions of the , they wrote with equal eloquence and freedom. After the conflict at Actium, and when it became essential to peace that all power should be centered in one man, these great intellects passed away. Then too the truthfulness of history was impaired in many ways; at first, through men's ignorance of public affairs, which were now wholly strange to them, then, through their passion for flattery, or, on the other hand, their hatred of their masters. And so between the enmity of the one and the servility of the other, neither had any regard for posterity. (Tac, Hist 1.1)

25. ’ choice of beginning ROME at the beginning was ruled by kings. Freedom and the consulship were established by Lucius Brutus. Dictatorships were held for a temporary crisis. The power of the decemvirs did not last beyond two years, nor was the consular jurisdiction of the military of long duration. The despotisms of Cinna and Sulla were brief; the rule of Pompeius and of Crassus soon yielded before Caesar; the arms of Lepidus and Antonius before Augustus; who, when the world was wearied by civil strife, subjected it to empire under the title of "Prince." But the successes and reverses of the old Roman people have been recorded by famous historians; and fine intellects were not wanting to describe the times of Augustus, till growing sycophancy scared them away. The histories of , Caius, Claudius, and , while they were in power, were falsified through terror, and after their death were written under the irritation of a recent hatred. Hence my purpose is to relate a few facts about Augustus - more particularly his last acts, then the reign of Tiberius, and all which follows, without either bitterness or partiality, from any motives to which I am far removed. (Tac, Ann 1.1)

26. Tacitus and the principate When after the destruction of Brutus and Cassius there was no longer any army of the Commonwealth, when Pompeius was crushed in Sicily, and when, with Lepidus pushed aside and Antonius slain, even the Julian faction had only Caesar left to lead it, then, dropping the title of triumvir, and giving out that he was a Consul, and was satisfied with a 's authority for the protection of the people, Augustus won over the soldiers with gifts, the populace with cheap corn, and all men with the sweets of repose, and so grew greater by degrees, while he concentrated in himself the functions of the Senate, the magistrates, and the laws. He was wholly unopposed, for the boldest spirits had fallen in battle, or in the proscription, while the remaining nobles, the readier they were to be slaves, were raised the higher by wealth and promotion, so that, aggrandised by revolution, they preferred the safety of the present to the dangerous past. Nor did the provinces dislike that condition of affairs, for they distrusted the government of the Senate and the people, because of the rivalries between the leading men and the rapacity of the officials, while the protection of the laws was unavailing, as they were continually deranged by violence, intrigue, and finally by corruption. (Tac, Ann 1.2)